Adult Congenital Heart Physicians Receive Advanced Certification

2/10/2016 - Peoria, Illinois

Dr. Suneetha Venkatapuram

Dr. Marc Knepp

Marc Knepp, MD, Pediatric Cardiologist with Children’s Hospital of Illinois and Suneetha Venkatapuram, MD, HeartCare Midwest Cardiologist are among the first doctors in the United States to receive certification in Adult Congenital Heart Disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Knepp is Director of the OSF Saint Francis Adult Congenital Heart Program and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria.

Dr. Venkatapuram is the clinical educator for the OSF Cardiovascular Fellowship, affiliated with the Children’s Hospital of Illinois Adult Congenital Heart Program, and Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria.

The certification marks a major step in furthering a national effort to educate adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) on the importance of receiving long term follow-up care. According to the Adult Congenital Heart Association, after receiving care as a child, fewer than 10 percent of adults with CHD in the United States get the recommended care as the disease progresses.

Dr. Knepp and Dr. Venkatapuram are two of only four physicians in Illinois to hold the new certification with fewer than 200 Adult Congenital Heart board certified physicians in the United States. This further strengthens congenital heart care available within OSF HealthCare, and will allow these patients to be regularly seen by an adult congenital heart defect specialist.